Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Application File W. 19,288, Benoni Fleming, Conn.

SERVICE
NUMBER
Conn.
Fleming, Benoni or Flemming, Louisa
W 19,288
CONTENTS

8684
New York
Benoni Fleming
of Oneida Co in the State of New York who was a private in the Company commanded by Captain Piner of the Regt. commanded by Col. Smith in the Ch. Ma. line for 7 mo.
Inscribed on the Roll of New York at the rate of 23 Dollars 33 Cents per annum to commence on the 4th day of March, 1831.
Certificate of Pension issued the 25 th day of Ap. 1833 and sent to B. P. Johnson Rome
Arrears to the 4th of March 1833 $46.66 Semi-ant. allowance ending 4 Sept. " 16.66
$63.32
{ Revolutionary Claim, } { Act June 7, 1832. }
Recorded by W. L. Williams Clerk, Book C Vol. 4 Page 19

Let. to G. Petit - July, 6 " " H. Wheaton, Dec. 1 st . " " Same 29 April 1846. Rep d 2 May - 1844,
7 th Reso: Jan: 23 rd 1845.
500
Orig. - see N.
ref d 15 Mar. '46.
Cert sent to
Hon Horace Wheaton, Pompey, N York
Duplicate certificate issued 30 April 1846 and sent to Hon H. Wheaton. Ho. of Reps
5433 Albany New York,
Louisa Fleming, widow of Benoni Fleming, Conn, who was a Private, in the Rev. War,
Inscribed on the Roll at the rate of 23 Dollars 33, Cents per annum, to commence on the 4th day of March, 1843.
Certificate of Pension issued the 2 nd day of May, 1844. and sent to
Hon. H. Wheaton, H. Reps.
[Act of March 3, 1843.]
Recorded in Book A Vol. 1, Page 259.

11,354
Benoni Fleming
admitted
7 mo. Private.
11. 17. 13. 16. 17.
12 Sep '52 21 Dec '52
B. P. Johnson
Rome
D 171. N. York

11,354
BRIEF in the case of  Benoit Fleming, - Florence  co of Onida  in the State of  New York.  (Act 7th June, 1832.)
 1. Was the declaration made before a Court or a Judge? Court  2. If before a Judge, does it appear that the applicant is disabled by bodily infirmity?  3. How old is he? 68 years  4. State his service, as directed in the form annexed. 
   Period. Duration of Service. Rank. Names of General and Field Officers under whom he served.   Years, Months, Days.     Apl In 17 81 3 private Gen. Place Col. Swift   March 1782 4 " Gen. T. Palmer Col. Swift  
 5. In what battles was he engaged?  6. Where did he reside when he entered the service? Cornwall, Conn.  7. Is his statement supported by living witnesses, by documentary proof, by traditional evidence, by incidental evidence, or by the rolls? Trad.  8. Are the papers defective as to form or authentication? and if so, in what respect? 
I Certify that the foregoing statement and the answers agree with the evidence in the case above mentioned.
W. Fawcett Examining Clerk.

Simon Fleming.
2nd
haid

STATE OF NEW YORK, } ss. Oneida County, }
On this 11th day of September 1832 personally appeared in open court Benoni Fleming in the court of Common Pleas of Oneida County , a resident of said county and state, aged sixty eight years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress, passed June 7, 1832.
That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers, and served as herein stated: That he was born at Cornwall Conn 1764 Has no record of his age. Lived at Cornwall Conn when he entered service - Since the war has lived at Westerlo N.Y. Crown Point N.Y. Westerlo again now Florence Oneida Co NY . That he entered the army April 1781 being drafted at Cornwall for 3 months , under a Capt Pierce, militia of Conn. Marched to New York Troops commanded by a Col Swift - Remained there three months , and discharged. In March 1782 was again drafted, under Capt Thomas Farmer, Col Swifts Regt militia Marched to West Point State NY. and served 4 months - and was regularly discharged - Knows of no witnesses living to prove his service, refuses to answer offers as to his character reputation. Does not recollect any continental officers.
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present, and declares that his name is not on the pension roll of the agency of any state.
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year aforesaid. J.B. Read Dep Clerk
Benoni Fleming
We, Job Darrow and William McConkey residing in Florence Oneida Co hereby certify that we are well acquainted with Mr Benoni Fleming who has subscribed and sworn to the above declaration: that we believe him to be about sixty eight years of age; that he is reputed and believed in the neighborhood where he resides, to have been a Soldier of the Revolution, and that we concur in that opinion.
Sworn and subscribed the day and year aforesaid. before me Isaac Thomas Justice of the peace
Job Darrow William McConkey
And the said court do hereby declare their opinion, after the investigation of the matter, and after putting the interrogatories prescribed by the War Department, that the above named applicant was a Revolutionary Soldier and served as he states: And the court further certifies, that it appears to them that Job Darrow who has signed the preceding certificate, is a resident in Florence and that William McConkey who has also signed the same, is a resident in Florence and is a credible person, and that their statement is entitled to credit. From distance from county of witness, I would occasion too much expense to require a personal attendance
By the Court C. Hayden first page
I, Isaac Thomas Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas Oneida do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said court in the matter of the application of Benoni Fleming for a pension.
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal of office, this 11th day of Sept 1832
Geo Brown Clerk Joseph B. Read Dep Clerk

Declaration
In order to obtain the benefit of the act of Congress of the 7 th July 1838 entitled "An Act granting halfpay and pensions to certain Widows State of New York"
County of Onondaga } On this first day of March, 1839 personally appeared before the Judges of the Courts of Common Pleas and general sessions of the peace, in and for said County, being Courts of record now sitting at the Courthouse, in the Town of Salina in said County, Louisa Fleming, a resident of the Town of Lysander in said County aged seventythree years, who, being first duly sworn, according to Law, doth, on her oath, make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress, passed July 7 th 1838, entitled, "An Act granting halfpay and pensions to certain Widows:" That She is the widow of Benoni Fleming who was a private in the revolutionary Army but is now deceased, that for the proof of his services as such, She relies on the evidence adduced by him, now on file in the War department, on which was granted to him an allowance of Twenty three Dollars and Thirty three cents per annum, by a pension certificate dated the 25 th of April 1833 under the Act of Congress of the 7 th June 1832, She further declares that She was married to the said Benoni Fleming on the 28 th day of November 1784, by a Justice of the peace whose name She has forgotten, in the Town of Cornwall, County of Litchfield & State of Connecticut, that her husband, the aforesaid Benoni Fleming died on the 11 th day of September 1838 in the said Town of Lysander that she was not married to him prior to his leaving the service but the marriage took place previous to the first of January Seventeen hundred and Ninetyfour: namely at the time above stated. That She knows of no person living who was present at said marriage, excepting Mary Ann Shaw, whose affidavit is hereto annexed, nor has She any documentary evidence, besides the same to support her claim.
Sworn to and subscribed on the day and year above written before -
Louisa Fleming Mark
E. Rhoades Clerk

I Elijah Rhodes Clerk of the Courts of Common Pleas and General Sessions of the peace, do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the original proceedings of the said Court, in the matter of the application of Louisa Fleming for a Pension
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal of office this 1 st day of March 1839.
E. Rhodes Clerk

State of New York
Onondaga County } ss. On this Ninth day of September 1843, before me, James Little, one of the Justices of the Peace in and for said County, came Joseph Staunton, and Anna his wife, of the Town of Schroepell, County of Oswego; the husband being Sixtyfive Years old, and the wife Fifty-Seven Years old, who severally being duly Sworn according to law, both depose and say that they have been long and well acquainted with Benoni Fleming, late of the Town of Lysander, in said County of Onondaga, and State aforesaid, deceased: deponents have been intimately acquainted with said Benoni, and Louisa his wife , for a period of Fiftyfive Years, the said Anna Staunton being their daughter and the said Joseph Staunton being their Son-in-law; that they know the said Benoni to have died a pensioner of the United States; that said Benoni and Louisa have been reputed in all places where they have lived, to have been lawfully married husband and wife; that they lived together as husband and wife, and had born to them and brought up a large family of children, consisting of Eleven Sons and four daughters, of which last, the deponent Anna Staunton was the oldest - and that Louisa Fleming, who now resides in the town of Clay, Onondaga County, State aforesaid, and is an applicant for a pension under the act of Congress of July 7 th 1838, is the identical Louisa Fleming who has been long known to these deponents as the wife of the said Benoni Fleming, deceased, and the pensioner above named, & further deponents say not.
Sworn to & subscribed by Joseph Staunton and Anna his wife before me, the day & year first above written & I certify that I am well acquainted with them both and know them to be moral & pious persons, and Credible Witnesses. James Little. Justice of the Peace
Joseph Staunton
her Anna Staunton Mark

State of New York Onondaga County
ss: I Charles T. Hicks Clerk of the said County do certify that James Sittle Esqr before whom the within affidavit purports to have been sworn, was at the date of the same, one of the Justices of the Peace in and for the said County, duly elected and qualified and that I am acquainted with his hand writing and verily believe his name subscribed to the said affidavit to be his proper hand writing and signature.
Witness my hand and seal of Office at Syracuse this 4 th day of October A.D. 1843.
Chas. T. Hicks Clerk.
The words "duly elected and qualified" interlined, and "4 th October" written on Erasure - all done by me, Chas. T. Hicks Clerk

May 29 '43
Louisa Fleming N.Y.
23 Sept Can't May '43
Edward Esqr
Commrs of Pensions Washington D.C.

Fabius Onondaga County N. Y. May 22 nd 1843
J. L. Edwards Esqr Commissioner of Pensions.
Sir. From the Letters in the case of Louisa Fleming dated May 2 nd , 12 th , and 16 th which your promptness has favoured me with, & which were duly received, I infer that the only difficulty remaining to be overcome, pertains to the time of her marriage, & from the notes at the bottom of the last printed sheet, that she has a good claim under the Act of July 1838, without a new declaration, proof of the marriage being made satisfactory - & not having married a second time, without any declaration under the Act of 1842.
But the principal object of this Letter is to say, in regard to the marriage, that my schedule of the papers heretofore transmitted in this case, shows, in agreement with my recollection, that among them, was an affidavit of Mary Ann Showers, a Sister of Mrs Fleming, that the deponent was present, at the age of fourteen years, & witnessed the marriage of Benoni Fleming to Louisa Lewis, the then present applicant, - & to submit, with due respect, whether that affidavit has not been lost - or was not overlooked in the examination mentioned in your Letter of 2 nd May, or whether a second witness is intended to be required by the following extract from your favor of the 12 th of May, (to wit) "The affidavit of some respectable person

" in addition to the proof filed, whom showing she was married, is " wanting." I allow myself to hope for a reply to these inquiries and for your suggestion of corrections to any error in my preceding inferences. As to the time of the marriage, as stated by Mrs Showers, in her affidavit, it may be that she speaks only from the best of her recollection, after the lapse of fiftyfour years, and at the age of Sixtyeight. There being no hope, nor even a shadow of hope, to my knowledge, of finding another person who can testify even as far as Mrs Showers has done, I take the liberty to submit, in view of the follow- ing facts, to which she swears positively (if my memory is true) - that she was present & witnessed the marriage that she was then fourteen years old, & that she was Sixty eight years old at the date of her affidavit in Nov 1838, whether it would be within the spirit & meaning of the Law, to deny her of its benefits, because unfortunately, no witness can be found who can designate the day of her marriage, a fact upon which the amount of pen- -sion cannot in any wise depend. Out of place, as I am aware would be any attempt upon an officer of the Law for his sympathy, I trust I may say in apology for extending the correspondence in this case, that Mrs Fleming is supported by a very indigent Son in law - that without any compensation for my services, it cost them $10 cash advanced by me, in pro- curing the evidence now on file, which was a severe tax upon their means of living, & that to save the postage on a correspondence with her, at a distance of some 35 miles, I

am desirous to comprise it within the smallest compass, by eliciting from the department all convenient information.
There is another old Lady for whom I am under promise to enquire for information, & I take the liberty to avail myself of this opportunity to fulfil it. Her first husband was Clement Maxfield, & he was killed on Long Island a month or two after his enlistment. She remembers none of his officers excepting his Captain whose name was Gaylor or Gaylord. Her third husband was also a revolutionary Soldier, & a pensioner under the Act of 1832, by the name of Eleazer Alby. Mrs Alby was married to him in 1813. Seeing no other ground of expectation for a pension under the late Laws, she wants to know if there is any Law for pension or Bounty Lands, to Widows whose husbands were killed in the revolutionary war, & if so whether Clement Maxfield's name can be found on any of the revolutionary rolls. —
Respectfully yours Obed de &c
George Pettit

In reply to your request of _____, received _____ for a statement of the military history of Benson Fleming a soldier of the REVOLUTIONARY WAR, you will find below the desired information as contained in his (or his widow's) application for pension on file in this Bureau.
W. File 19288
   DATES OF ENLISTMENT OR APPOINTMENT. LENGTH OF SERVICE. RANK. OFFICERS UNDER WHOM SERVICE WAS RENDERED. STATE.   CAPTAIN. COLONEL.     Apl. 81 3 mos. Pierce Swift Conn.   Mch. 82 4 mos. Thomas Fanner Swift        
Battles engaged in,
Residence of soldier at enlistment, Cornwall Conn.
Date of application for pension, Sept. 11 1832  Albany.
Residence at date of application, Florence, Oneida Co. N.Y.
Age at date of application, Born 1764 Cornwall Conn.
Remarks: Sol. mar. Cornwall, Conn. Nov. 28. 1784 Louisa Louire  he died Sept. 4, 1838 at Lysander, N.Y.  Wid. appl. Sept. 12. 1843 ae 78 res. of Clay  Heid. 1839 ae 73 res. Lysander, Onondaga Co., N.Y.
Post up 11 yrs + 4 days Anna (oldest dau) 57 in 1843 wife Joseph Stanton.
Office note: Cannot verify service by Conn. book -

Feb. 24, 1903
Sara M. Combs
Ottawa Ill
1909 Jan. 21. History to Miss Edna A. Tinkham p
Rev 19.288
WIDOW, &c.
File No. 19.288
Louisa Fleming Widow of Benoni Fleming Priv. Rev. War
Act: Mar. 3 d 1873
Index:—Vol. 14, Page 243
[Arrangement of 1870.]

Louisa Fleming
4.904
SP.Y.
Rejected
See letter to G. Pettit May 2. o 1843 - do to same June 2. o 1843 - do to same June 13. 1843 - same. Oct 30. 43
Act July 7. 1838

8358
Albany New York
Louisa Fleming widow of Benoni Fleming who was a pensioner under the Act of 1832 and who died on the 14 th September 1838 of Onondaga in the State of N.Y. who was a Private in the Company commanded by Captain Pierce of the Reg t commanded by Col. Swift in the Revolutionary line for Seven Months
Inscribed on the Roll of Albany at the rate of 23 Dollars 33 Cents per annum, to commence on the 4 th day of March, 1836. Septem. 1838
Certificate of Pension issued the 2 nd day of May 1844 and sent to Hon. H. Wheaton
Total Amount, $
[Act July 7, 1838.]
Recorded by J. L. Swann, Clerk,
Book D. Vol. 1 Page 157
act 1838 " 1843 rep 2 May 44 Cert. C o 13. iss d under J. Res. 23 Jan y - from H. March, 1836 to 4 " Septem. 1838, at $23.33 per annum. Sent to Hon. H. Wheaton, Pomfrey, N.Y.

Mar 1 '45
Can
late Reg
Louisa Fleming Louisa Fleming
NYork
$23.33 per a
Resolution 23 January 1845
Hon. H. Wheaton Pompey N.York
Washington City H. H. Wheaton H. H.

Sir
I call a to see you personally, in relation to the enclosed papers, but as you are engaged, I cannot have the pleasure of a personal interview. I therefore leave the petition for your personal inspection, & decision, hoping to hear from you soon.
N. Wheaton,
Saturday Dec 14/44.
Hon. Mr. Wilkins Secty of War.

House of Reps.
April 27. 1846
J. L. Edwards Esq.
Dr Sir,
Enclosed is an application for a new Pension certificate, the original one having been lost. - If the papers are sufficient please enclose me the certificate, if not sufficient. State the objections,
Very Respectfully yours H. Wheaton

11354
Benoni Fleming, Oneida Co. N.Y.
Private.
1781. Capt Pierce, Col Infilt. mil. at Hokeneck 3 months.
1782. Capt Tho. Tanner. Col Infilt West Plant 4 months.
7 months.
W.P. Johnson, Asst. Rome N.Y.
Pens n to be paid at Utica N.Y.
admitted
7 mo Private

House of Representatives Washington City March 8. 1844
J. S. Edwards Esq.
Dr Sir,
I enclose two applications for Pensions from the County I represent, which I should be happy to have you report upon as soon as is consistent with your business - I also beg leave to call your attention to the case of Louisa Fleming of Onondaga Co. which has been a long time in the office & that you will give it an examination at once, my reason for urging action upon this case is, that the applicant is very low & in case of her death before getting her certificate, her children being scattered all over the country, the expense in obtaining the signatures of the heirs would be very great -
I am Sir Very Respectfully Horace Wheaton

N.H. Dec 13/44.
Hon. H. Wheaton
Enc. papers of Mrs. Louisa Fleming asking annuities of Union.
M s 56. see Dec 18/44
Bureau office
Louisa Fleming file with her papers adm d .
5433 43
Ward Dep. Am d 18 Dec 1844

House of Reps.
Washington City
Dec 13. 1844
To The Secretary of War.
Sir,
I enclose the petition of Mrs Louisa Fleming, for an addition to her pension. The petition sets forth the grounds upon which she desires the increase, & Sir, notwithstanding its great length, I hope you will give it a personal & attentive perusal & Examination, & if consistent with your sense of duty, that you will move your decision or construction of the law. So far as this case is concerned, on account of the delay, by the court growing out of the objections to the testimony in this case & the great expense attending this claim of so small amount. She is truly very poor & her case is one that deserves the most liberal construction of the laws, & as you will see by her petition, should have been passed upon long before the passage of the law or proviso, which denies her the pension from the 4 th March 1836 to 4 th Sept. 1838. 2½ years at the rate of $23.33. per Annum. I do not impute any improper motive to the Court of Pensions, for this delay. Please examine the petition & report to me at your earliest convenience, for if not granted by your Honor, I must bring it before congress.
I Am Very Respectfully
Your Ob t Servant Horace Wheaton
Hon d . Wm Wilkins Secty of War.

House of Reps.
Washington City
Dec 13. 1844
To The Secretary of War.
Sir,
I enclose the petition of Mrs Louisa Fleming, for an addition to her pension. The petition sets forth the grounds upon which she desires the increase, & Sir, notwithstanding its great length, I hope you will give it a personal & attentive perusal & examination, & if consistent with your sense of duty, that you will reverse your decision or construction of the law, so far as this case is concerned, on account of the delay by the court growing out of the objections to the testimony in this case & the great expense attending this claim of so small an amount. She is truly very poor & her case is one that deserves the most liberal construction of the laws, & as you will see by her petition, should have been passed upon long before the passage of the law or proviso, which denies her the pension from the 4 th March 1836 to 4 th Sept. 1838. 2½ years at the rate of $23.33 per Annum. I do not impute any improper motion to the Court of Pensions, for this delay. Please examine the petition & report to me at your earliest convenience, for if not granted by your Honor, I must bring it before Congress.
I am Very Respectfully
Your Ob t Servant Horace Wheaton
Hon. Wm Wilkins Secy of War.

Hon. H. Wheaton 18 Dec 1843
M o 25/635

Depot of War Dec 18. 1844
Sir
I have received your letter of the 13 th inst accompanied by the papers in the case of Mrs. Louisa Fleming. The Act of the 3 rd of April last, which prohibits a widow from drawing a pension for the same period during which her husband drew a pension, makes no distinction between claims then filed in the pension Office, & those not presented at that period. Had Mrs. Fleming's case been acted on immediately on its presentation, she would have drawn more than two years more pension. As the law has operated severely in this and some other cases of a like character, I have thought it advisable to take the subject into consideration, in case Congress should not amend the law so as to afford the relief sought. It is proper to say, however, that as the subject will probably claim the early attention of Congress, it is deemed most expedient to await the action of that body.
Very S r W. Melkins
Hor. Horace Wheaton House of Reps

Oct 23 d 1843 -
Rev
J. L. Edwards Esqr
Com te of Pensions Washington D. C.
Ms.

Fabius, Onondaga County, N.Y. October 18 th 1843.
J. S. Edwards Esq. Com. of Pensions
Sir.
After so long time, with great effort & difficulty, I have procured testimony in the case of Mrs Louise Fleming, which, I trust will obviate the remaining objections to her application for a pension under the Acts of 1838 and 1842, & which, together with her Declaration under said Acts of Congress, is herewith transmitted. Mrs Fleming resides some thirty miles distant, and her Sister-in-law Mary Ann Shavers, the witness who was present at her Marriage, lives as many miles still further remote, in the north part of Cayuga County. I have therefore been obliged to do the business through a sub-agent, a neighbor of the applicant, & have experienced an unusual share of trouble, vexation & delay, which always attends the ignorance and inexperience of such help. By some blunder committed upon the papers I had forwarded to him, among which was a declaration for Mrs Fleming, it was laid aside, and the one now sent, drawn by him or some other person, was substituted. In this declaration, as you will see, is a discrepancy in regard to her age, which made it necessary for me to return the papers, & procure an affidavit from Mrs Fleming, to explain this oversight. Three have papers been sent to Cayuga County, to get errors committed by Mrs Shavers and the Justice, corrected.

Fabiens, Onondaga County, N.Y. October 18 th 1843.
J. S. Edwards Esq. Com. of Pensions
Sir.
After so long time, with great effort & difficulty, I have procured testimony in the case of Mrs Louisa Fleming, which, I trust will obviate the remaining objections to her application for a pension under the Acts of 1838 and 1842, & which, together with her Declaration under said Acts of Congress, is herewith transmitted. Mrs Fleming resides some thirty miles distant, and her Sister-in-law Mary Ann Showers, the witness who was present at her Marriage, lives as many miles still further remote, in the north part of Cayuga County. I have therefore been obliged to do the business through a subagent, a neighbor of the applicant, & have experienced an unusual share of trouble, vexation & delay, which always attends the ignorance and inexperience of such help. By some blunder committed upon the papers I had forwarded to him, among which was a declaration for Mrs Fleming, it was laid aside, and the one now sent, drawn by him or some other person, was substituted. In this declaration, as you will see, is a discrepancy in regard to her age, which made it necessary for me to return the papers, & procure an affidavit from Mrs Fleming, to explain this oversight. Three have papers been sent to Cayuga County, to get errors committed by Mrs Showers and the Justice, corrected.

The Affidavit of Barnardus Van Waggoner, explains the last error, & its correction, which was an omission of her middle name, in the signature to her affidavit. This much was deemed necessary for me to say, in order to explain the occasion for the two affidavits heretofore mentioned. The requisite facts for a case under the Acts before cited, being set forth in Mrs Flemings declaration, & the principal one, the marriage , being proved by Mrs Shavers, & the character of both being sustained so fully by the affidavits of Joseph & Anna Stanton - Ozias & Sabra Dodge, and the official certificates of two magistrates, I may be permitted to add that the old Lady feels warranted in looking for your final decision in her favor. It is now some twenty days since I took the liberty to forward a Letter of enquiry in regard to the Papers of Kiram Knapp & Margaret Bookhout.
No reply having been received, my fears that their papers, which were mailed here early in August, are astray in the mails, induce me to repeat the enquiry contained in my last, hoping to be favored with your answer, by an early mail.
Respectfully, yours O ld &c
George Pittit

May 2/63
Cens
Hulda Benedict
Louisa Fleming
My 2/38
Free
L. Edwards Esqr
Commissioner of Pensions
Washington D. C.

Fabius Onondaga County N. Y. April 25 th 1843.
J. L. Edwards Esq. Com. of Pensions
Sir Your note of the 13 th instant with copies of the Acts of Congress of the 23 rd Aug. 1842 and 3 rd of March 1843 are thankfully received. On a suggestion contained in your Circular received in Sept 1838 without date, in the following words "But where an individual has a claim of doubtful character, & first wishes information for his guidance before obligating himself to the expense of taking evidence, if the individual be named, & all the facts connected with the case be clearly set forth, the party will be informed as to the course most advisable to pursue," I take the liberty to ask information on questions arising on the Law & the facts of one or two particular cases, together with some general questions on other cases. Of the first, I name as the "individuals" Mrs Huldah Benedict whose application under the Act of July 4 th 1836, seems, from the Letter of Geo. W. Crump, of Sept. 7 th 1836, to have been rejected, because the marriage was subsequent to the service of Jonathan Benedict the Soldier, & her deceased husband - also Mrs Louisa Fleming who failed, as appears from your date of July 2 nd 1839, in her claim, presented under the Act of July 7 th 1838, because her husband, Bersoni Fleming, died shortly after the passage of that Act. For "the facts connected with these cases" I refer you to the papers of those Widows & their husbands, in the files of the department.

My questions are, as to Mrs Benedict 1 st Do the Laws of 1838, 1842 and 1843, or either of them embrace her case..? 2 nd If so, is the proof of marriage now on file, satisfactory? 3 rd - If not, the points wherein the proof is defective.
As to Mrs Fleming
The same questions under the two Acts of 1842 and 1843.
Permit me to enquire now, generally, if the Widows of deceased Pensioners under the Acts of 1818 and 1832, who have died between the 7 th of July 1838 and the 3 rd of March 1843 are embraced in the provisions of the Acts of 1842 and 1843, or either of them?
Also whether the regulations under the Act of March 1843 are to be understood as requiring of a Pensioner under the Act of 1838, any thing further than proof of her identity as such Pensioner - the amount of such pension, & her continued Widowhood.
Also whether a Justice of the peace, is to be understood as embraced in the phrase "some magistrate in the County where she resides?" -
Something definite on these points, from your hand, will alone pacify several Widows of pensioners whose agent I have been, who, with their friends, are the more anxious, from the brimstone & advertisements, spread over the Country by Speculators in Pensions, in the character of agents, announcing that it is so easy for any body to get a pension, that no charge are made, (except for disbursements) in cases of failure - but without apprising the Widows to look out .
Please favor me with a reply at your earliest convenience with a copy of the resolution of the 16 th of August 1842.
affectionately Your Obed t Serv t George Pettit

England
July 5. 44 St. Helen's Aug 20th 43
Free
J. Edwards Esqr. Commissioner of Pensions Washington, D. C.

Fabius, Onondaga County, N. Y. June 28 th 1844.
J. L. Edwards Esqr., Com. of Pensions.
Sir.
I have lately received, by the Hon. H. Wheaton, two Pension certificates issued from your office, to Mrs Louisa Fleming, under the Acts of Congress of July 1838, and March 1843. The first allows her only for two and a half years, commencing at the date of her husband's death, on the 4 th September 1838. This allowance varies essentially from other cases under the same Law, which have recently come under my immediate observation. Mrs Fleming is very infirm, and needy even to destitution. Her husband's Pension, upon which the Law predicates her claim, was but a mere pittance, $23.33. The prosecution of it, in disbursements, and very moderate charges for services in procuring the requisite proof, from remote & distant places, absorbs more than a moiety of both allowances. One of the cases alluded to above, is that of Margaret Bookhout, under my personal agency, whose husband, James Bookhout, died in February 1841, after drawing his pension from the 4 th March 1836, to the 4 th Sept. 1840 - four and a half years - from which date to his death as aforesaid, she received the arrears, by my agency, (if my memory serve) - & subsequently, last year, was allowed, under the Act of 1838, for a period of five years, covering the same time. Another case is that of Mrs Cadwell, Widow of Preston Cadwell who drew his full pension, during the whole five years allowance to Widows, by the Act of 1838, and died in this village, after it expired, on the 4 th March 1841.

I am informed that Rachel Gadeel's Widow, has recently been allowed $80.00 a year, for the same five years . I do not know this fact, for this is one case which, turned aside, under an impression (entertained by other discerning pensioners Agents) that the pension Laws, taken together, did not intend an allowance to both husband & Wife, for the same period of time. This impression remained till after the receipt of your favor of May 15 th , 1843, enclosing a second copy of the Act of March 3 d 1843, with notes at the bottom containing a contrary construction - & after observing your action under that construction in the cases recited herein. Mrs Bookhout & Mrs Gadeel are both in good circumstances & well to live. And now Sir, if all the foregoing facts are truly premised, it is respectfully submitted, if there is not, at least apparent injustice in the award to Mrs Fleming - or manifest favor in the allowances to Mrs Bookhout and Mrs Gadeel? Supposing it possible, that the wrong to Mrs Fleming, if any, has occurred through some oversight in the press & hurry of official business, I take the liberty, at her urgent desire , to present an appeal in her behalf, for a review & reconsideration of her case, & for a further allowance at the rate of $23.33 a year, from the 4 th of March 1836 to the 4 th of September 1838, according to the provisions of the Act of July 1838, & the practical construction of the same, in the two other cases hereinbefore recited. For the last half of the five years embraced by that Act, already allowed, the vouchers are prepared to be sent to Albany forthwith.
I add one further personal request, to be furnished by your favor, with a copy of the late Act, extending

or continuing their pensions to Widows, without attempting accuracy in quoting the title, not having seen the Act; also a copy of the regulations adopted, or to be adopted under it. Hoping to be favored with your reply, at your earliest convenience,
I am, very respectfully Your Obedt Servt
G. Pettit
re very ension, a more & and to

am? 18 Dec. '43

Washington Dec 17/43
To J. S. Edwards Esq
Sir,
Some ten days since I called upon you in relation to the Claim of Mrs Louisa Fleming of the Town of Clay, Onondaga County N.Y. to a Pension, I then exhibited to you Hon. George Pittites expose of the business, who has kindly undertaken to procure for this small pittance, to make the few remaining days of her life more comfortable, - you then told me you would examine the case & report the result of your deliberations to me in a few days, but as yet I have not heard from you, and fearing that in the pressure of business you may have forgotten this case I have concluded to commit it to paper & bring it to your recollection, -
It appears from your former correspondence with Judge Pettit, that you require in this case two living Witnesses to prove the Marriage, when in ordinary cases one has been considered sufficient & as there is but one now living who witnessed the marriage of Mrs Fleming, Judge P. thinks it should be considered sufficient in this case, - I hope you will look at this case as soon as you can consistently, & report the result to me, & report the case as fully as you can, & if you deem the evidence insufficient, please state all the points that are not fully made out & what will be required -
I am Sir Very Respectfully Your Obedt Servt Horace Wheaton

June 13 1843
Free
J. L. Edwards Esqr Commissioner of Pensions Washington D.C.
Cms

Fabius June 9 th 1843
To J. L. Edwards Esqr. Commissioner of Pensions.
Sir. Your favor of the 2 nd inst. came to hand yesterday. Among the suggestions of enquiry in mine of the 22 nd ult, to which yours before me replies, I asked to be informed if an affidavit would be required as indispensable, from a living witness, who was present at the marriage of Benoni Fleming to Louisa Sykes, in addition to that of Mary Ann Shaeffer, in order to substantiate that marriage? To this part of my Letter, yours does not favor me with a reply. I therefore take the liberty, respectfully, to repeat this request, because an affirmative answer puts an end to Mrs Flemings application, no such witness, to my knowledge & information, being alive & to be found.
I take this occasion to remark, by way of apology, that in my enquiry in behalf of the Widow of Clement Maxfield, I was neither more nor less, than the voluntary layagent speaking gratis, for a poor widow, unable to pay a Lawyer for examining all the Laws of Congress on the subject of her solicitude, which was, to be informed, if by any Law, or construction of Law, she would be embraced as a pensioner.
I am very respectfully Your Obed t Servant
George Pettit

186
ny
L. Fleming
Hue H. Wheaton H R
H R Wheaton
H R

Fubins Onondaga County, N. Y. March 30 th 1844
J. L. Edwards Esqr. Com. Pensions
Sir.
Under date of Dec 19 th 1843, I received a Letter from the Hon. W. Wheaton, covering yours to him of the 18 th , together with the printed Sheet therein mentioned, all relating to the pension application of Louisa Fleming.
In pursuance of your declaration that "the Clerk of the Town of Cornwall in Connecticut, where she was married, can remove all the difficulty in this case, if he will give a direct answer to the last question (No 5) contained in the enclosed printed Sheet," I forwarded to said Clerk a copy of No 5 aforesaid, with necessary instructions to secure his attention, & a "direct answer" to the same. His answer was direct, negative & unqualified, & came to hand properly executed & duly authenticated according to the regulations. On the 5 th of Feb, I enclosed this paper to Mr Wheaton, & his Letter of the 15 th of that month acknowledges the the reception of it, & adds that he had presented it at the pension office some two or three days previously. This old Lady has long been very feeble, & seemingly parleying with death on the brink of the grave, is very indigent, & her friends all poor. Their solicitude for the success of her claim, during more than five years through which it has been pending, has grown (since the last "difficulty in the case has been removed") into the veriest impatience to realize the benefits of a final & favorable decision. To gratify the Widow & her friends, & to expedite a consummation of their hopes (if such a thing can be), I make this statement, taking the liberty to add, as an apology for this importunity, that a recurrence to her papers will show the number of her children to be 15, whose names to the necessary vouchers for drawing the money, & attendant expenses (in case of her death) would reduce the amount to a more pittance, scattered & remote as are some of their places of residence.
I am very Respectfully
Your Obedt Servt George Pettit

17456

To the President of the United States, or to the Congress of the United States, or to either of said departments of the Government, to which the subject matter of this petition more properly appertains.
This petition of Louisa Fleming, of Whitesboro, in the County of Oneida, & State of New York, a pensioner of the United States, respectfully prays for an additional allowance of pension, which she verily believes is justly her due, according to the Laws of the United States, and according to the rules & regulations adopted and practised upon, under those Laws, at the Pension office in Washington, but which is withheld from her.
Your petitioner deems it necessary to recite, somewhat in detail, to the history of her pension, & respectfully begs leave to do so, in order to present the grounds of the grievances intelligibly, from which she now prays to be relieved.
Your petitioner therefore, takes the liberty to set forth, that she is the Widow of Benoni Fleming, a pensioner of the United States, under the Act of Congress of June 7 th 1832, who died at Lyndon in the County of Onondaga on the 1 st day of September 1838. That in the autumn of the year 1838, being then a resident of the town of Florence in the County of Oneida she employed George Pettit Esqr, of Fabius in the County of Onondaga, as her Agent to present her claim for a pension, under the Act of Congress of July 7 th 1838. That with great difficulty & much cost, her said agent procured from Connecticut the record evidence of her marriage, required by the regulations under that act, or rather, the required proof that no such evidence existed, all which he was subjected to, before the affidavit of a living witness, present at her said marriage to the said Benoni Fleming, could be received - that the affidavit of said Witness was then procured from a distance of Sixty miles in a western County, & authenticated at the County Clerk's office, thirty miles from the residence of the witness, costing some five Dollars, & all the papers, duly authenticated, were forwarded to Washington, by her said agent, about the first of March 1839. That in June following he wrote a Letter of Enquiry, about her application, & received an answer of which here is a Copy.

War Department, Pension Office, July 2. 1839.
Sir.
The papers of Mrs Louisa Fleming, widow of Benoni Fleming, have been examined & filed. The Claimant's husband, it appears, died in the month of September 1838. No widow whose husband died after the passage of the Act of July 7. 1838, is entitled to a pension. This claim is therefore rejected.
I am respectfully
Your obedient Servant. J. L. Edwards
George Pittit Esq. Julius N York.
Your Petitioner further sets forth, that after the passage of the Act of 1843, her said Agent, addressed several questions to the Commissioner of Pensions, touching sundry pension cases, in a letter dated April or May, 1843, from which the following is an extract.
"Extract or Copy No. 2
 1st Do the Laws of 1838, 1842 or 1843, either of them, embrace the case of Mrs Benedict?  2nd If so, is the proof of her marriage now on file, satisfactory?  3rd If not, the points wherein the proof is defective? 
As to Mrs Fleming.
The same questions, under the two acts of 1842 and 1843. Permit me to enquire now, generally, if the Widows of deceased pensioners under the Acts of 1818, and 1832, who have died between the 7th of July 1838, and the 3rd of March 1843, are embraced in the provisions of the Acts of 1842 & 1843 or either of them? Also, whether the regulations under the Act of March 1843, are to be understood, as requiring of a pensioner under the Act of 1838, any thing further, than proof of identity as such pensioner - the amount of such pension, & her continued widowhood? Also whether a Justice of peace, is to be understood as embraced in the phrase 'some magistrate in the county where she resides' * * * * I am respectfully Your Obed t Servant (P P 11-1)

+ + + + I am respectfully your Obed Servant C. P. Pettit
That her said agent received from the Commissioner of Pensions, answers to said Letter, & another written about the same time, of which the following extracts contain all that relates to her application.
Extract First or Copy No-3
"Pension Office May 2, 1843.
Sir.
At your request I have examined the case of Louisa Flemings, widow of Benoni Fleming, & I find the proof of her marriage is not satisfactory. She must procure better evidence than she has yet furnished, to shew that she was married at the time set forth in her declaration. She must also make a declaration under the Act of 1842 as directed in the enclosed printed Sheet.
I am respectfully Your Obed Servt. J. L. Edwards."
George Pettit Esqr. Fabius, New York"
Extract Second or Copy No. 4
"Pension Office May 12 th 1843.
Sir. I have received your Letter of the 8 th inst. In reply thereto, I have to inform you that I cannot say whether widows mentioned in your first question are embraced by the Acts of 1842 and 1843 or not. If married before 1794, the time of the death of the husband does not affect the claim.
The regulation of March 9 th 1843 requires the applicant to shew that she is the same person who drew a pension under the Law of 1838, & nothing more. If she cannot comply with the letter of the rule, she must shew why she cannot.
A part of the proof is the magistrate to whom reference is made in the regulation of 1843. The proof the marriage in Louisa Flemings case is not sufficient. The affidavit of some respectable person in addition to the proof filed, shewing when she was married is wanting.
I am very respectfully Your Ob. Servant J. L. Edwards"
George Pettit Esq Fabius New York.

4 Your petitioner further represents, that on the 10th of May 1843, - on the 22 nd of the same month, & on the 9th of June 1843, her said agent wrote three several Letters to J. L. Edwards Esq., the objects of which were principally, as in his preceding Letters, to ascertain the points wherein the proof on file was defective , in regard to her marriage, & to request the Commissioner of pensions to define what the " better evidence " insisted upon should be, in order to obviate his reiterated but undefined objections, if possible, & if not, to abandon the application before a large expense should be incurred, as was the case in the previous application under the act of 1838, when it was unexpectedly "rejected". But he failed to effect those objects, as his Letters, copies of which here follow, show, together with the sequel. Copy No. 5
"Pension Office
May 16 th 1843.
Sir.
In answer to your Letter of the 10 th instant, I have to inform you that the Act of 1842, is not confined to widows who were married after the decease of the husband on account of whose service the pension is claimed. The Law of 1843 removes the objection to the case of Louisa Fleming, so far as the period of her husband's death was concerned, but it does not authorize us to place any one on the pension list unless the applicant complies with the rules. + + + + +
If you will read the notes appended to the enclosed printed sheet, you will find an answer to a number of questions, which, perhaps, will save the labor of a tedious & unnecessary correspondence.
I am respectfully
Your Obedt Servt.
J. L. Edwards"
Mr George Pittit Tadous New York!!
Copy No. 6.
"Pension Office
June 2 nd 1843.
Sir.
In answer to your Letter of the 22 nd Ult. relative to the case of Louisa Fleming, widow of Barnoni Fleming I have to

Your petitioner further represents, that on the 10th of May 1843, — on the 22nd of the same month, & on the 9th of June 1843, her said agent wrote three several Letters to J. L. Edwards Esq., the objects of which were principally, as in his preceding Letters, to ascertain the points wherein the proof on file was defective, in regard to her marriage, & to request the Commissioner of pensions to define what the "better evidence" insisted upon should be, in order to obviate his reiterated but undefined objections, if possible, & if not, to abandon the application before a large expense should be incurred, as was the case in the previous application under the act of 1838, when it was unexpectedly "rejected". But he failed to effect those objects, as his Letters, copies of which here follow, show, together with the sequel. Copy No. 5 "Pension Office May 16th 1843.
Sir.
In answer to your Letter of the 10th instant, I have to inform you that the Act of 1842, is not confined to widows who were married after the decease of the husband on account of whose service the pension is claimed. The Law of 1843 removes the objection to the case of Louisa Fleming, so far as the period of her husband's death was concerned, but it does not authorize us to place any one on the pension list unless the applicant complies with the rules. + + + + + + + + + +
Many persons make enquiries as to the provisions of the acts of 1832, 1838, and 1842, above referred to; long letters are written and numerous questions are propounded, most of which are unnecessary. One answer is sufficient for all such enquiries; and it is simply this:—If the widow has obtained the benefits of the law of July 7, 1838, she is entitled to the provisions of the law of March 3, 1843, and not otherwise.
The marriage of the widow after the death of the husband for whose services she claims, is no bar to her claim under the law of 1838, provided she is a widow when she makes application for the pension; and notwithstanding the husband may have drawn a pension after the 7th July, 1838, she may also draw a pension under the law passed on that day, provided she was married before 1794. No widow is entitled to the benefits of the acts providing for the widows of Revolutionary officers and soldiers, if the husband did not serve at least six months. Two years service entitles the claimant to the maximum allowance, and six months service to the minimum allowance.
Mr George Pettit Tadoussac New York!!
Copy No. 6.
"Pension Office June 2nd 1843.
Sir.
In answer to your Letter of the 22nd Ult. relative to the case of Louisa Fleming, widow of Baroni Fleming I have to

In answer to your Letter of the 22 nd Ult. o relative to the case of Louisa Fleming, widow of Bononi Fleming I have to
5 inform you that the affidavit of Mary Ann Showers is on file, but it is not of itself, sufficient to prove the marriage at the time alleged. The fact that there is no record of the marriage, renders the claim doubtful, & further proof must be produced. Mrs Fleming must also make a new declaration as heretofore instructed. + + + + +
I am very respectfully
Your Obed t Servant
J. L. Edwards."
George Pettit Esqr
Tadoussac New York."
Your petitioner here deems it proper further to set forth, that in his Letter of May 22 nd , her said agent, apprehending that the affidavit of her only living Witness might have been lost, enquired as to that fact, & stated that if the "further proof" again above insisted on, intended the affidavit of a second living witness, a " respectable person ", Mrs Fleming would have to abandon her claim, as Mary Ann Showers, was the only person known to be alive, who was present at her marriage, & although the Commissioner of Pensions announced her affidavit to be still on file, he did not condescend to inform said Agent of any defect in it, or if any, what that defect was - nor that another affidavit from a second living witness, was what " was wanting in addition to the proof filed ".
Copy No. 7
"Pension Office
June 13 th 1843.
Sir
In answer to your Letter of the 9 th instant I have to inform you that another affidavit to prove the marriage of Louisa Fleming is indispensable.
I am very respectfully
Your Obed t Servt
J. L. Edwards "
Mr George Pettit.
Tadoussac New York."
Your Petitioner further represents, that her said Agent, failing to elicit any specific defect in her proof of her marriage then on file in the pension office, or any fact or facts held by the commissioner

6 of pensions, to be " indispensable " in " another affidavit ," proceeded at a venture, and procured another affidavit from Mary Ann Showers, the witness hereinbefore mentioned, who was present at the marriage of the petitioner, substantially the same as her former affidavit, then & long before on the files of the pension office - two other affidavits of Elias and Sabra Dodge, proving the character of Mary Ann Showers to be good for truth & veracity - two other affidavits of Joseph and Anna Stanton, aged Sixty years or more, proving that the latter was the Daughter of Louisa & Benoni Fleming, & both swearing that they had lived together as man & wife, from the earliest recollection of the witness, and had brought up a large family consisting of some fourteen or sixteen children - and two other affidavits, made by Louisa Fleming & Romulus Van Waggoner, the former explaining a misstatement as to her age in one or both of her declarations, & the latter explaining how the middle name of Mrs Showers happened to be omitted in her signature to her affidavit last above mentioned obtained, all which being duly authenticated, were annexed to her declarations under the Acts of 1838 and 1842 made & authenticated as required by the regulations under the said Acts respectively, & the whole package was mailed for Washington at the Postoffice in Fabius Onondaga County, by her said Agent, on or about the 18 th day of October 1843. That early in November her said agent was answered by the Commissioner of Pensions as follows. Copy No-8.
"Pension office October 30 th 1843.
Sir.
The additional evidence in the case of Louisa Fleming, claiming a pension under the Act of July 7. 1838, has been examined & filed. You are referred to a letter addressed to you from this office on the 13 th June last, in which, another affidavit establishing the date of the claimant's marriage, is stated to be "indispensably necessary". The proof must go to establish the date of the marriage in order that there may be concurrent evidence of the fact. I am very respectfully Your Obed Servant.

J. L. Edwards "
George Pettit Esqr. Fabius New York."
Your Petitioner would further set forth, that her said Agent having exhausted all her resources for evidence, & being still shut up in darkness as to what was intended and insisted on (over & above, & beyond, similar evidence on which several other claims in his hands had been allowed) by such allusions as "better evidence" (copy No. 3) "the affidavit of some respectable person" (copy No. 4) "further proof must be produced" (copy No. 6) and "another affidavit" (copy No. 7. and No. 8.) he next engaged the Hon. Horace Wheaton, member of Congress from the Onondaga District, to call at the pension office and ascertain, if possible, the specific matter of fact , alleged to be "wanting" in the proof of Louisa Flemings marriage to Benoni Fleming deceased. That he received under cover of a Letter from Mr Wheaton dated Decmber 19 th 1843, the following Letter to him from the Commissioner of Pensions, with the printed sheet mentioned therein, enclosed. Copy No. 9.
"Pension Office Decmber 18 th 1843.
Sir.
The case of Louisa Fleming has again been examined. The Clerk of the Town of Cornwall in Connecticut, where she was married, can remove all the difficulty in this case, if he will give a direct answer to the last question (no 5.) contained in the enclosed printed sheet.
I have the honor to be
Very respectfully
Your obedt. Servt.
J. L. Edwards "
Hon. Horace Wheaton
House of Representatives.
Copy of said "last question (No. 5.)" from said "printed Sheet." " 5 th Whether the records (if they do not furnish the evidence sought) appear to be so regular and full as to raise a presumption against an alleged marriage within the Town, County or Parish, which is not found thereon?"
Your Petitioner further represents that the " evidence sought " was

8 a record of her marriage to Benoni Fleming, in the Books of the Town Clerk of the Town of Cornwall, where she was married - & in case of the absence of such record, certified & authenticated proof of such absence under his official signature was further "sought" - & not only sought, but had been obtained, as well from Nathaniel M. Armstrong, Pastor of the South Parish in Cornwall, as from the said Town Clerk, & had been on file in the pension office as part & parcel of the proof in the petitioner's first application in 1839, and all fully authenticated according to the requisitions of the Act of 1838 & those of the subsequent Acts for Widows Pensions. Your petitioner further represents with sincere grief for the delay of her lawful claim, that in his Letter to Mr Wheaton, the Commissioner abandoned his want of "letter evidence" by an "affidavit from some respectable person" - "further proof" & &, and assumed a new position, subjecting her to further delay & great additional cost, in compliance with a new rule, not to be found in any published regulations of any pension Law furnished by him to her said agent.
For, during a correspondence extending from April to October, between them, the former, constantly insisting on a point of evidence in support of her marriage, which he neither disclosed, nor mentioned the particular defect in the evidence then in his possession, to be supplied by what was vaguely called "letter evidence", and "another affidavit", and never once even intimating that any thing was "wanting" in the documentary proof from Cornwall, at length & at last, turned the latter over to the Clerk of that Town, for a piece of testimony of an entire different character, and more technical than substantial, coolly consoling your petitioner with an assurance that a "direct answer" from said Town Clerk would "remove all the difficulty in this case." With two months further delay, & the expense of a double correspondence between her said agent, and the Postmaster & Town Clerk of Cornwall (hearing nothing from the latter he wrote to the Postmaster) a duly certified & authenticated answer was received by her said agent from said Town Clerk, & by him was transmitted to Mr Wheaton on the 5 th of Feb. 1844. On the 16 th of that month, as your petitioner is informed the Hon. Mr Wheaton delivered the answer of said Town Clerk, to the Commissioner of pensions, when the latter promised to examine & report as soon as he could.

Your Petitioner here deemed it appropriate & due to her case, to present some extracts from the Letters of Mr Wheaton to her said Agent. Extract First
Washington City March 14 th 1844
"Dear Sir,
Your Letter of the 24 th  ult is received, & I have delayed answering it for a few days, hoping to hear something from the Pension Office, relative to the claim of Louisa Fleming, but as yet I get nothing. I have, within the last 15 or 20 days called at the office twice, on this subject, & this week, I have addressed him by letter, calling his attention to this case in particular, for the reason, that Mrs Fleming is very feeble, and the heirs, scattered all over the country, & would (in case of her death) be attended with great expense to procure her pension for the heirs. + + + + +
Yours &c Horace Wheaton
Hon. George Pettit.
Seventyseven days after Mr Wheaton delivered in at the pension office the testimony from the Town Clerk of Cornwall, he wrote as follows.
Extract Second.
"Washington City, Saturday morning May 4 th 1844.
"Dear Sir
After waiting & importuning until I had become ashamed, I have at last the pleasure of forwarding you the certificate of Mrs Fleming. I received them this morning, & let me assure you that this long delay is not owing to any neglect of mine. + + + +
In haste yours H. Wheaton.
Hon G. Pettit.
Your petitioner now further sets forth that the amount of pension allowed to her said Husband, & upon which her claim rested, was $23.33 per annum, & that she was allowed at the

18 same rate, under the Act of 1838, for two and a half years, from the death of her said husband on the 11 th of September 1838, to the 1 st of March 1841, and under the Act of 1843, for one year ending March 1 st 1844. And further, that her agent, surprised & disappointed that the rule known to him to have been adopted & acted on at the pension office in cases precisely similar to her case, had been departed from, in not allowing her for the first half of the five years embraced by the Act of July 1838, addressed a Letter to the Commissioner of pensions of which the following is a copy.
Copy No-10
Tadoussac, County N. Y.
June 28 th 1844.
J. L. Edwards Esqr Commissioner of pensions
Sir
I have lately received by the Hon K. Wheaton, two pension certificates issued from your office, to Mrs Louisa Fleming, under the Acts of Congress of July 1838 and March 1843. The first allows her only for two and a half years, commencing at the date of her husband's death on the 11 th September 1838. This allowance varies essentially from other cases under the same law, which have recently come under my immediate observation. Mrs Fleming is very infirm & needy, even to destitution. Her husband's pension, upon which the Law predicates her claim, was but a mere pittance $23 33 . The prosecution of it, in disbursements, & very moderate charges for services in procuring the requisite proof from remote & distant places, absorbs more than a majority of both allowances. One of the cases alluded to above, is that of Margaret Bookhout under my personal agency, whose husband James Bookhout, died in February 1841, after drawing his pension from the 11 th March 1836, to the 11 th September 1840 - four & a half years, from which date to his death as aforesaid, She received the arrears, by my agency (if my memory serves) & subsequently, last year, was allowed, under the Act of 1838, for a period of five years covering the same time. Another case is that of Mrs Cadwell Widow of Reuben Cadwell, who drew his full pension during the whole five years of allowance made to widows, by the act of

1838, and died in this village after it expired on the 1 st of March 1841. I am informed that Reuben Cadwell's Widow has recently been allowed $80.00 a year for the same five years. I do not know this fact, for this is one case which I turned aside under an impression (entertained by other discerning pensioners agents) that the pension laws, taken together, did not intend an allowance to both husband & Wife, for the same period of time. This impression remains with me after the receipt of your favor of May 16 th 1843, enclosing a second copy of of the Act of March 3 rd 1843, with notes at the bottom, containing a contrary construction - & after observing your action under that construction in the cases recited herein. Mrs Bookhart & Mrs Cadwell are both in good circumstances & well to live.
And now Sir, if all the foregoing facts are truly premised, it is respectfully submitted, if there is not, at least apparent injustice, in the award to Mrs Fleming - or manifest favor in the allowances to Mrs Bookhart & Mrs Cadwell? Supposing it possible, that the wrong to Mrs Fleming, if any, has occurred thro' some oversight in the press & hurry of official business, I take the liberty, at her urgent desire , to present an appeal in her behalf, for a review & reconsideration of her case, & for a further allowance at the rate of $23.33 a year, from the 1 st March 1836 to the 1 st of September 1838, according to the provision of the Act of July 1838, & the practical construction of the same in the two other cases herein before cited. For the last half of the five years, embraced by that act already allowed, the vouchers are prepared to be sent to Albany forthwith. I add one further personal request, to be furnished by your favor with a copy of the late Act, extending or continuing their pensions to Widows, (without attempting or accuracy in quoting the title), not having seen the Act, also a copy of the regulations adopted, or to be adopted under it. Hoping to be favoured with your reply at your earliest convenience,
I am very respectfully Your Obedt. Servt. G. Pittet
To this Letter my said Agent received the following answer.

Pension Office July 8 th 1844.
Sir.
In reply to your Letter of the 28 th Ult, I have to inform you that Louisa Fleming's pension cannot be allowed from an earlier date than the 4 th of September 1838, as the proviso to the Pension appropriation act, of the 30 th of April last, directs that no widow shall receive a pension for the same period during which her deceased husband received one. The Secretary of War decided that all claims in the office on the day of the passage of the Law, similar to that of Mrs Fleming's could not be allowed to commence from an earlier period than the day of the husband's death. Enclosed herewith are the regulations under the late act of Congress.
I am very respectfully Your Obedt Servt
J. L. Edwards
G. Pettit Esqr Tribes New York."
Your petitioner now respectfully submits, whether the grievance she complains of, does not result directly from unreasonable & unnecessary delay on the part of the officer of the Government, Firsty - by holding her said agent in doubt & suspense, for more than six months, ending in December 1843, & in writing upon a point, which he then abandoned as of no consequence, & set up a new point, not required in any of the pension regulations as published , and exacting a step beyond them all, to be taken, at considerable expense & further loss of time, & which point, if at all necessary, could as well have been presented, months before, by the long correspondence with her said Agent, in reply to his repeated solicitations to be advised of the "difficulty", as to have delayed & suspended the case till his attention was called to it by Mr Wheaton.
Secondly - By the delay of nearly two months and a half, after he received the document fully meeting his late & reluctant requisition, before he bestowed definitive action upon the case, and until, only four days previous to such action, a Law was passed, which, by an Ex post facto

operation, is interposed to deprive the Widow of a pittance, clearly belonging to her of right, by the Laws of her country, as they had been constantly administered for months before.
It only remains to your Petitioner to state that if the "printed sheet" enclosed to Mr Wheaton, had been forwarded to her said agent, by the Commissioner of Pensions, in one of the several Letters in their correspondence, the latter would have been furnished with the answer required, long before its delivery by Mr Wheaton, & your Petitioner would have received all she claimed & was then unquestionably entitled to by Law - would have been relieved of literal suffering from the want of it, & saved the expense of this application. She now appeals to the government of her country, upon the facts of the foregoing premises, to be redressed of her grievances; presenting this her petition, in the first place, to his Excellency the President of the United States, as the Head of the executive Department, for him to interpose & reverse the decision above recited, if he deem it right so to do - & otherwise she prays the Congress of the United States to pass a special Act for her relief in the premises, allowing her an addition to her pension at the rate of twenty three Dollars and thirty three cents per annum from the 4 th of March 1836 to the 4 th of September 1838, & as in duty bound, your Petitioner will ever pray &c.
Mitchell N. Moore D. W. Brown
Louisa X Fleming Mark
State of New York 31st Dec 1838

State of New York
Onida County } ss. On the 11 th day of November 1844 Louisa Fleming, the above Petitioner personally appears before me William S. Watson one of the Justices of the peace in & for the said County, & being duly sworn according to Law deposes & says that the facts set forth in the above petition are true so far as they relate to herself, her sayings & doings, & so far as they relate to George Pettit her agent therein mentioned & to his sayings & doings she verily believes them to be true.
Subscribed & sworn to by Louisa Fleming this 14 th day of November 1844, before me I certify she made her mark from inability to write Louisa Fleming for a proper and true W. Watson Justice of the Peace
State of New York
Onondaga County } ss. On the 23 rd day of November 1844, before me, Philo B. Castle, a Justice of the peace in & for said County, personally appears George Pettit of Fabius in said County, who being duly sworn according to Law, deposes & says, that he is the person named in the petition to Congress, of Louisa Fleming of Whitestown, in the County of Onida, as her agent to procure her present pension, said petition praying for a further allowance of Pension & being addressed firstly to the President of the United States, under date of November 14 th 1844, that he has examined the said petition throughout, & testifies that all the facts therein set forth in relation to acts done & performed by deponent, as such agent, are true, & that all the other facts touching or relating to acts done & performed by said Louisa Fleming, this deponent verily believes to be true.
Subscribed & sworn to, by George Pettit the day & year first above written before me
George Pettit
P B Castle Justice Peace

State of New York } Cayuga County } On the Eighth day of September 1843 before Franklin Southwick Justice of the peace in and for said County personally appears Mary Ann Showers, a Widow, of the Town of Sterling in the County of Cayuga aged seventythree years next November, who being duly sworn according to Law, deposes & says that She was born in the Town of Cornwall in the State of Connecticut, and was well acquainted with Louisa Squires in that town - that said Louisa is Sister in law to this deponent & some five years the oldest, & now resides in the Town of Clay, in the County of Onondaga, N. Y. being the Widow of Benoni Fleming late a Pensioner of the United States, deceased, that the deponent was present at the marriage of the said Benoni Fleming to the said Louisa Squires, by a Justice of the peace whose name is recently recollected to have been Judson Willson, that She heard the said Justice pronounce them Man & Wife lawfully married according to the Laws of said State of Connecticut, that said marriage was performed in said Town of Cornwall in the month of October or November 1784, that although deponent cannot speak confidently as to which of said Months, yet her strongest impression is that it was October, & the 28 th day of the month according to deponent's best recollection after a lapse of about Sixty years - that Deponent knows that said Benoni and Louisa lived together as husband & Wife from the time of their marriage as aforesaid to the day of his death in September 1838, and brought up a large family of Children - that said Benoni & Louisa Fleming and this deponent have lived near each other all through life, or so near as to have seen each other yearly & oftener, & there is no fact of the deponent's life, not even her own existence that She could testify to with more confidence, than the fact that She was present & witnessed the lawful marriage of Benoni Fleming to Louisa Squires as aforesaid. & further deponent says not.
Sworn to & subscribed by Mary Ann Showers the day and year first above written, before me - & I certify that I know her to be of good moral character, & entitled to full credit & belief. Anna Mary A. Showers Franklin Southwick Justice of the Peace.

State of New York
Cayuga County ss On this Eighth day of September 1843 personally appears before me Franklin Southwick a Justice of Peace in & for said County, Ozias Dodge & Sabra Dodge of the Town of Sterling in said County, who being severally duly sworn according to Law depose & say, respectively, that they have been well acquainted with Mary Ann Shavers, the within deponent, during the period of Seven years last past, & know her to be a person of good moral character, & a member of a religious Society in good standing, & of unquestioned credibility & that though she is aged and infirm in body, her mind & memory are sound & clear & that any statement made by her is entitled to full credit & belief, & further the deponents say not.
Ozias Dodge Sabra Dodge
Subscribed & sworn to by Ozias Dodge and Sabra Dodge the day & year first above-written before me - & I certify that I am acquainted with them & know them to be credible Witnesses & entitled to full belief.
Franklin Southwick Justice of the Peace.
State of New York
Cayuga County ss I
Clerk of the County
Courts of the County & State aforesaid do hereby certify that [is a Justice of the Peace in and for said County, duly commissioned & qualified, that his commission was dated on the day of 18 & will expire on the day of 18 and that his signatures written within & above, are genuine.
Given under my hand & the Seal of
State of New York
Cayuga County Atty's Office ss.
said County this day of 1843
William Richardson Clerk of the said County of Cayuga, do hereby certify, that Franklin Southwick Esquire was on the 8th day of September A.D. 1843 a Justice of the Peace, in for said County, duly appointed & qualified; and that the above [forthwith] signatures purporting to be his, are genuine Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal of said County. This 11th day of September A.D. 1843 M. Richardson Clerk

Onondaga County, ss. On this 30 th day of September 1843, personally appeared before me, James Little, a Justice of the Peace, in and for said County, Romulus Van Wagoner, and being duly sworn according to law, deposes and says, that on the 28 th instant, in the Town of Sterling, Cayuga County, he presented the affidavit herunto attached by Wafers, to Mary Ann Showers, and it was by her admitted to be the one that she had subscribed and sworn to before Franklin Southwick, Esquire, a Justice of the Peace in and for the said County of Cayuga. That he then called her attention to the fact that a part of her name, to wit, "Ann" was omitted in her signature. That the said Mary Ann Showers remarked that "that was strange", as she intended to have written it in full, but that she was so blind that she had not discovered it. That the said Mary Ann Showers, then, in his presence, interlined the word "Ann". And he further says that he has been well acquainted with the said Mary Ann Showers for a period of over twenty years, and knows her to be a person of truth and veracity, and the same person described in the said affidavit, and who executed the same. And further this deponent saith not.
Subscribed and sworn before me this 30 th day of September, 1843, And I certify that I am well acquainted with the said Romulus Van Wagoner, and know that his character for truth and veracity, is unimpeachable.
Romulus Van Wagoner
James Little Justice of the Peace

State of New York } ss } 1843 } Franklin
State of New York } Onondaga County }
ss: I Charles T. Hicks Clerk of the said County do certify that James Little Esqr before whom the within affidavit of Romulus Van Wagener purports to have been sworn, was at the date of the same one of the Justices of the Peace in and for the said County, duly elected and qualified, and that I am acquainted with his hand writing and verily believe his name subscribed to the said affidavit to be his proper hand writing and signature
Witness my hand and seal of Office at Syracuse this 4 th day of October A.D. 1843.
Chas. T. Hicks Clerk.

4904 Louisa Fleming
George Pettit Agent Fabius Onondaga County
N. Y.
act 7 July 38
adnd 7 mo fri
2333 from 4 Sept 1838 the day of her husband's death
Also act 3 March 43 2333
Hon H Wheaton H.R.
N o act 1843 5780

State of New York Onondaga County } James Little one of the Justices of the peace in & for the said County, comes Louisa Fleming a resident of the Town of Clay in said County, aged seventyeight years, who being duly sworn according to Law, doth, on her oath depose & say, that She is the same Louisa Fleming who subscribed and made oath to the foregoing decla- ration, as an applicant for Pensions under the Acts of Con- gress of the 7 th July 1838 and 23 rd of August 1842, before the Circuit Court & Court of Oyer & Terminer in & for said County, on the 12 th day of September 1843 - That deponent's age is erroneously stated in said declaration at seventythree years, whereas her true age is seventyeight years, but from the infirmities of this advanced years She cannot be con- fident of the month, nor day of the month of her birth- day - & that for the same reasons, & the further reason that She cannot write nor read writing, she did not observe the said error as to her age, at the time said declaration was hastily read over to her to be signed & sworn to, as aforesaid - & that the deponent was not apprised, nor did She understand that her age was stated in said declaration at seventythree years, until it was re- turned to her on the 12 th day of October 1843, to be cor- rected & explained by this affidavit, & further the de- ponent says not.
Sworn to and subscribed by Louisa } Fleming before me the day & year } first above written, & I certify that } I am well acquainted with Louisa } Fleming & know her to be a credible } witness, & her statement is entitled to } full credit & belief. }
James Little,
Justice of the Peace
Louisa Fleming mark

State of New York } Onondaga County }
ss: I Charles T. Hickey Clerk of the said County do certify that James Little Esqr before whom the within affidavit of Louisa Fleming purports to have been sworn, was at the date of the same one of the Justices of the peace in and for the said County duly elected and qualified, and that I am acquainted with his hand-writing and verily believe his name subscribed to the said affidavit to be his proper hand writing and signature.
Witness my hand and seal of Office at Syracuse this 13 th day of October A.D. 1843
Chas. T. Hickey Clerk.

Declaration.
In order to obtain the benefits of the acts of Congress of the 7 th July, 1838, and the 23 d of August, 1842. State of New York } County of Onondaga } ss. On this 12 th day of September, 1843, Personally appeared before the Judges of the Circuit Court and Court of Oyer & Terminer, in and for the said County, at the Court House in the Town of Salina, in said County, then and there sitting as such Courts, Louisa Fleming, a resident of the Town of Clay, in the said County of Onondaga, aged Seventy three Years, the month and day of the month forgotten; Who being first duly sworn according to law, doth, on her oath, make the following declaration, in order to obtain the benefits of the provision made by the acts of Congress passed July 7 th 1838, and the 23 d of August 1842, granting pensions to Widows of persons who served during the Revolutionary War. That she is the Widow of Benoni Fleming, deceased. Who was a Soldier and served in the Revolutionary War, as a private, as the declarant believes, and was also, at the time of his death, a pensioner of the United States under the act of Congress passed June 7 th 1832, to the annual amount of Twenty three dollars and thirty three cents. That she was married to the said Benoni Fleming on the 28 th day of November, in the year 1784, by a Justice of the peace, Whose name was Judson Millson; that no family record has been kept by the said Benoni & Louisa. That her husband the said Benoni Fleming, died on the 4 th day of September, 1838; That she was married to him, as aforesaid in the Town of Cornwall, County of Litchfield & State of Connecticut, not prior to his leaving the service, but the marriage took place previous to the first of January, Seventeen hundred and Ninety four, viz. at the time above stated, and that she has not been married since the death of said Benoni Fleming, but is still his widow. And for proof of all the facts

above stated, the declarant refers to the evidence adduced by said Benoni Fleming to obtain his said pension, and to that which she adduced in her former application, now on the files of the War department together with the additional evidence herewith forwarded.
Sworn to, and subscribed, } Louisa X Fleming on the day and year above } mark - written before the said court.
Daniel Pratt First Judge of Onondaga County
State of New York } Onondaga County } ss: I Charles T. Hicks Clerk of Onondaga County and Clerk of the Court of Oyer and Terminer in and for said County being a court of record do hereby certify that the foregoing contains the true and correct proceed- ings of the said Court in the matter of the appli- cation of Louisa Fleming for a Pension -
In Testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal of Office at Syracuse this 12 th day of September 1843.
Chas. T. Hicks Clerk

Declaration In order to obtain the benefits of the resolution of Congress of the 23 rd January, 1845.
Whereas the Act of the 30 th April, 1844, prohibited me from drawing a pension for the same period during which my husband was a pensioner, I now make the following statement under Oath, to obtain the benefits of the resolution abovementioned. I am the widow of Bononi Fleming, who was a Soldier, or private in the war of the revolution; I have drawn a pension at the rate of twentythree Dollars and thirtythree cents per annum from the 4 th day of March 1836, to the 4 th day of September 1838, and now ask for the amount due me from the 4 th day of September 1838, to the 4 th day of March 1841, when my former pension under the Act of Congress, of July 7 th 1838, would have ceased & terminated
Louisa her Fleming mark
Sworn to & subscribed before me on this 22 nd day of February 1845, at Whitestown, Oneida County & State of New York.
W. J. Wetmore Justice of the peace.
I certify that the declarant is personally known to me, and that she is the same individual she represents herself to be in the foregoing affidavit - & that the reason why she made her mark in the signature above, is on account of the tremors & infirmities of age.
W. J. Wetmore Justice of the Peace.
I Delos D. Wolff Clerk of the Courts in the County of Oneida in the State of New York, do hereby certify that William J. Wetmore who has signed the foregoing, is a Justice of the peace for the County of Oneida in the State of New York and that the above is his signature.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name and affixed my seal of office, this 22 nd day of February in the year 1845, at in the County of Oneida & State of New York
Delos D. Wolff Clerk

Application for a new certificate. County of Onondaga, ss.
On this 23 d day of April, 1846, before me the sub- -scriber, a Justice of the Peace for the said County of Onondaga, personally appeared Louisa Flemming, who, on her Oath, declares that she is the Widow of Benoni Flem- -ming, late of the town of Syracuse, County of Onondaga aforesaid, deceased, who died a pensioner of the United States, which pension was granted to him for and on account of his Revolutionary Services — and that she, in consideration of being such Widow, was placed on the pension roll of the State of New York, and that she received a Certificate of that fact under the signature and seal of the Secretary of War, which Certificate, on or about the summer of 1845, at or near the Village of Whitesboro, in the County of Oneida and State of New York, was put in possession of a Mr. Wetmore, and that she has been unable to obtain it since, for the reason, as this deponent has been informed, that it is lost or mislaid: and that she is further informed, that the said Wetmore is dead.
Sworn and subscribed to, before me, the day and year aforesaid —
Philander Childs. Justice of the Peace
her Louisa of Flemming mark
County of Onondaga, ss.
On this 23 d day of April, 1846, before me, the sub- -scriber, a Justice of the Peace for the said County of Onon- -daga, personally appeared James Little, a resident of the town of Clay, in said County, who, on his Oath declares that he is well acquainted with the above named Louisa Flemming, and knows her to be the identical

person described in the preceding affidavit: that he has frequently seen the pension certificate there spoken of, and knows that she has heretofore, drawn a pension: that since the said Louisa Fleming returned from Whitesboro, he has written a letter to William S. Wetmore, Esq. and in due time received an answer from W. O. Merrill, which states that Mr Wetmore is dead, and that after "I have made diligent search for the papers & cannot find them in the Office".
James Little.
Sworn & subscribed to, before me, the day and year aforesaid — and I certify that I am well acquainted with the above named James Little, and believe him to be a man of truth and veracity. —
Philander Childs Justice of the Peace
State of New-York, Onondaga County, } ss: Clerk's Office, —
I certify that Philander Childs Esquire before whom the foregoing Affidavits purport to have been sworn, was at the date of the same, a Justice of the Peace in & for the said County, Commissioned & sworn; that I am well acquainted with his hand writing, & truly believe that the foregoing signatures purporting to be his are genuine. Given under my hand and the Seal of said County, Apr. 24, 1846.
Lewis J. Gillet, Dept Clerk (Clerk absent)

House of Representatives
March 1, 1840.
Col. J. L. Edwards,
Dr Sir,
I enclose the papers of Louise Fleming for annuity of Pension, Will you please forward her Certificate to me immediately & Much obliged yours Respectfully H. Wheaton

ny.
L Fleming -
18 Dec 43
Please send Certificate to H. Wheaton Hon. H. Wheaton House of Reps. H. R.

State of Connecticut Litchfield County
On the 21 st day of January 1844 before me one of the Justices of the peace in & for the said County, comes Frederick Kellogg of the Town of Cornwall in the said County, & Clerk of the same, who being duly sworn according to Law, deposes & says that he is the Town Clerk of the said Town and duly elected & qualified as required by Law, & that he has been Town Clerk as aforesaid since the 8 th day of June in the year 1820 during which period he has had & now has charge & possession of the records of said Town, that he has searched the said records from the year 1784 to the year 1820, inclusive, for a record of the marriage of Benoni Fleming to Louisa Squier, said to have been performed or solemnized in said Town on the 28 th day of October or November in the year 1784, but has not succeeded in finding any such record of such marriage - deponent further says that the said records do not appear to be so regular & full as to raise a presumption against their marriage alleged to have occurred within the said Town of Cornwall as aforesaid.
Frederick Kellogg
Subscribed & sworn to by Frederick Kellogg the above deponent the day & year first above written be- fore me, & I certify that he is a credible witness, & his statement is entitled to full belief.
Benjamin Sedgwick Justice of the Peace.

State of Connecticut County of Litchfield } ss
I Origen S. Seymour the Clerk of the County Court in & for the said County do hereby certify that Benjamin Sedgwick before whom the within deposition purports to have been sworn to, was, on the 21 st day of January 1844, the date of the deposition, a Justice of the peace in & for the said County, duly qualified & authorized to administer oaths. and that his signature to the within jurat is genuine.
Given under my hand and the Seal of said County this 29 day of Jan y in the year of our Lord 1844.
Origen S. Seymour Clerk

State of New York Oneida County ss On this 24 th day of January 1833 before me personally appeared Benoni Fleming within named, who being duly sworn deposes and says —
That he served in the Revolutionary War as stated in his declaration annexed in 1781 for the term of three months , in Capt Percy's company of militia, and under Col Swift — and that in 1782 he served for the term of four months — in Capt Thomas Tannery's company militia, and in Col Swift's Regiment  making Seven Months service in the whole.
The reason why this deponent did not obtain a Clergyman's Certificate is, because there is no settled Minister of the gospel living near him, with whom he has any acquaintance.
The Certificate of the Court as to witnesses was that Job Dawley and William M. Empey, who testified to this deponent's character and reputation lived so far from court, that it would occasion too much expense, to have them attend personally. This deponent being very poor, could not pay them for so going —
This deponent has no knowledge of any witness that served with him, who is now alive

This deponent says he recollects an officer by the name of Captain Gilbert who had command of a company but do not recollect any other officers, or the name of the company. This deponent did not at either time of his service receive a discharge in writing -
This deponent refers to Calvin Darrow, Isaac Thompson Esq Justice of the peace, Nathan Cobb, and others of Florence who can testify as to his character and reputation.
Benoni this Fleming mark
Personally appeared the above named Benoni Fleming known as a man of credibility, truth and veracity and made oath to the foregoing affidavit. Jan 24. 1833.
Alva Whedon Justice of the Peace
Clerk's Office Guadalupe County
I George Brown Clerk of the said county do hereby certify that Alva Whedon above named is a Justice of the peace in the said county, that I am acquainted with his handwriting and the above is his proper signature.
In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand & affixed the seal of said county this 25 day of January 1833.
Geo Brown Clk. Alva Whedon Dep Clk Justice of the Peace

4904 Declaration of Louisa Fleming George Pettit Agent
Habits. Onondaga County N. Y.
Mar 28. Nov. 1784
Admitted June 9. Sept 1838

I, Frederick Kellogg of Cornwall in the County of Litchfield and State of Connecticut, Depose and say that I am Town Clerk of the said town of Cornwall, and as such have the keeping of the Public Records belonging to said Town, and I further depose and say that I have diligently searched the Records of Marriages in said town and cannot find any entry or Record of the marriage of Benoni Fleming to Louisa Squires,
Frederick Kellogg
Town Clerk of Cornwall
State of Connecticut Litchfield County ss. Be it known that on the 11 th day of February 1839. Personally appeared the above named Frederick Kellogg who is a credible witness and made Oath to the truth of the affidavit by him. Subscribed before me
Benjamin Sedgwick Justice of Peace
I, Nath l M c Armstrong of Cornwall in the County of Litchfield & State of Connecticut, Depose & say that I am the pastor of the South parish of said Cornwall and hold in my possession the records of marriages of said town from 1756 to 1797. that I have carefully examined said record and do not find the names of Benoni Fleming and Louisa Squires there recorded.
Nath l M c Armstrong
Pastor of the South Parish in Cornwall.
State of Connecticut, Litchfield County ss. Be it known that on the 11 th day of Feby 1839. the said Nathaniel Armstrong personally appeared, who is a credible witness and made oath to the truth of the said affidavit by him subscribed before me.
Benjamin Sedgwick Justice of Peace

STATE OF CONNECTICUT, } ss. Litchfield. LITCHFIELD COUNTY, }
I Origen S. Seymour Clerk
of the County Court of the County and State aforesaid, do hereby certify that
Benjamin Sedgwick Esquire is a Justice of the Peace in and for said County, duly commissioned and qualified, and by Law authorized to administer Oaths and to take the acknowledgment of Deeds . And that his commission was dated on the 29 th day of May — A. D. 1838 and will expire on the 20 th day of June, A. D. 1839. And that the foregoing signatures which purport to be his are genuine
Given under my hand and the Seal of said Court this
16 th day of February A. D. 1839
Origen S. Seymour Clerk

Mary Ann Shouless Affidavit -

State of New York } ss Cayuga County }
On this 28 th day of November 1838 before Elijah S. Everts a Justice of the Peace in and for said County came Mary Ann Shamus of the Town of Ithaca in said County aged sixty seven years, who being duly sworn according to law, by & before the said Justice did, on an oath, depose and say that she is well acquainted with Loui- sa Fleming, widow of Benoni Fleming late of Ly- sander, Onondaga County, deceased, that said Louisa now resides in said Lysander, & is an applicant for a pension under the Laws of Congress on that subject, & this deponent is informed, & that deponent is intimate- ly acquainted with said Louisa - that deponent was present at the marriage & saw it solemnized, of said Benoni Fleming to Louisa Lewis which was her maiden name - that they were married in the town of Cornwall, County of Litchfield, State of Connec- ticut, on the twenty eighth day of November in the year One thousand eight hundred and thirty eight by a Justice of the peace whose name deponent has forgotten. & further says that Sworn & subscribed this 28 th day of November 1838 before me, & I do cer- tify that I am well acquainted with this deponent, & know her to be a credible person & good character
Mary Ann X Shamus Mack
Elijah S. Everts Justice
New York State
Cayuga County ss. To all to whom these presents shall come, I, the undersigned, Clerk of the Office of the Justice of the Peace for said County, do hereby certify that Elijah S. Everts was on the 28 th day of November 1838 a Justice of the Peace in and for said County duly qualified, that I know his handwriting and that the signature above purporting to be his is genuine. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set the seal of said County and subscribed my name the 30 th Nov. 1838 J. W. Foster. Clerk.

Declaration of Louisa Fleming Under the Act of July 7 th 1838
George Pettit of Franklin County of Onondaga N.Y.
Agent

State of New York Onondaga County ss On the First day of March 1839 personally appeared before Elijah Rhoades Clerk of the Courts of common Pleas and general Sessions of the peace in and for said County Romulus Van Waggoner, of the Town of Clay  Lysander in said County, who being first duly sworn, lay & before the said Clerk, according to Law, dath, on his oath, depose & say, that he is well acquainted with Louisa Fleming who has subscribed & sworn to the foregoing declaration, that She has resided with deponent since the decease of Benoni Fleming her late husband, & still resides with him & remains his Widow, not having been married since the death of the said Benoni, which happened on the 4th day of last Sep- tember, at the house of this deponent, & in his presence.
Sworn to and subscribed the day and year first above written before me - & I certify that from information relied on by me the said deponent Romulus Van Waggoner is well reputed for truth & veracity & is a credible witness E. Rhoades Clerk
Romulus Van Waggoner

O. W. AND N. DIVISION.
Department of the Interior,
BUREAU OF PENSIONS.
Searched by _____
Claim No. _____
Certificate No. _____
Claimant _____
Soldier _____
Service _____
Additional service _____
Remarks _____
_____ Chief of Division.

19,788 Benoni Fleming
Sept. 11, 1832
Oneida Co. N.Y. - 68
Born Cornwall Conn 1764
apl. 81 Cornwall Conn
Capt. Pierce
Col Swift
Port. 8 m
md. 82. Apr Thos Tanner
Col do
Port. 4 m
Mar. Louisa Squires
Nov. 28, 1784, Cornwall Conn.
D - Sept. 4, 1838 Syracuse N.Y.
No Bat.

C.R.
Ottawa Ill.
Jan. 29. 1903.
Commissioner of Pensions Washington D.C.
Sir - Will you please inform me if there is the record of a pension drawn by Benoni Fleming-war of the Revolution- and after his death by his widow - Louisa Squire Fleming. Do not know what State.
Respectfully
Sara M. Combs.
Ottawa.
Ill.

RECORD DIVISION.
Department of the Interior, BUREAU OF PENSIONS.
Briefed by L. D. L.
Claim No. _____
Certificate No. _____
Claimant _____
Soldier Benoni Fleming
Service _____
Additional Service Rev. War
No. _____ claim, State records _____, 190_____
No claim, combination records _____, 190_____
REMARKS:
No claim, except W. # 19288

Jan 8. 1909. draft for B.I.C. to Miss Edna H. Tinkham. H. M. Fin. Div.
Sutherland Iowa
Jan. 2. 1909.
Commissioner of Pensions
Washington D. C.
Dear Sir - Enclosed find draft for one dollar for which please send Revol- utionary War record of Benoni Fleming who drew a pension. Reply
Miss Edna H. Tinkham Sutherland Iowa.

Respectfully referred to the Chief Record Div. for his consideration and reply to writer. Draft for $1. 00 has been returned to Miss Eana A. Lindham.
A. H. Thompson (X.M.) Chief Finance Div.
Jany 8/09.